Advertising Sucks! Long Live The Web!by: Mike Cheney

How much does an advert in Yellow Pages cost? How many enquiries would you expect to get back for that investment each day? 1? 10? 100?

What about an ad in the local newspaper or a trade publication? They don’t come cheap. When was the last time you heard an advertising salesman say:

“If you’re not happy with the volume of responses and sales you get from the ad I will give you your money back.”

How many times have you heard an ad salesman say:

“I will tell you exactly how many people view your advertisement, how long they read it for and which ad they were looking at before they starting reading your ad. You can use this to work out the profile of your potential customers.”

Hardly likely is it? Yet this is the kind of information that you can get your hands on via your website.

Expensive is a dirty word. Nothing is about cost – everything is about value. Having a great profile on the web can not only bring you more customers and sales but it can boost the perceived size and stature of your company.

As a business owner of course you want to see your website at the top of the search engines – everyone wants to be higher than their competitors – what value would you put on this?

Imagine placing an ad in a magazine and asking the salesperson:

“Can you guarantee me more sales? Will you give me my money back if people read the ad but don’t buy my product?”

It just wouldn’t happen. And yet there is a lot of scepticism surrounding the web – I come across it every single day.

“Mike, we’ve had our fingers burned in the past and though I like what you’re saying how do I know you’re not one of the cowboys?”

Ultimately nobody will ever buy anything from anybody unless buyer confidence is establsihed – no matter what is being sold. And the only way to establish buyer confidence is to develop a lasting relationship built on trust, two-way communication and transparency of information.

I don’t believe that website marketing is, or should be, a black art. I don’t believe that copywriting or accounting are black arts. They are all just things that, if you want done right, you need to get the professionals in to do.

*TOP TIP*

Want to know what people are looking for on the web? Visit the following link and type in words related to your business and this nifty tool will give you an indication of what phrases people are typing into search engines to find the products and services you provide. Cool eh?

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Mike Cheney
www.magnet4web.com

[You have my permission to use this article in your newsletter, on your website or anywhere else for that matter as long as it remains unedited and includes the resource box at the bottom.]

 

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Mike Cheney is making over $19,000 a month just from AdSense and his videos show you how he does it: http://www.adsense-videos.info

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About The Author You can get free access to lots more of my articles plus a Free Bonus Special Report “How To Turn Your Website Into A Customer Magnet” worth a value of £47 ($85) here: http://www.magnet4web.com/website_services/?page=freeguide

Speak Your Mind? Maybe Not. Here’s How To Decide. – by: Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.

NOTE TO SELF: “Engage brain before putting mouth into gear.”

I couldn’t find the origin of this saying, but it ranks in my top ten instructions for successful living. It’s just another way of saying, “Think before you speak,” but it sounds much more important.

When your mouth gets moving before your brain is engaged, your inner brat is unfettered. There is no filter to prevent you from saying things you might later regret.

Here are some risks of speaking without thinking:

- You might hurt/alarm/offend others, intentionally or not

- You might regret betraying secrets and confidences

- You might lose the advantage while negotiating

- You might lose respect from others

- Your reputation might suffer long-term damage

- You might lose your chance for a date, for a job or for a promotion

- You might get into trouble with the law

- You can’t take back what you said

If speaking mindlessly is so potentially destructive, why do people do it? There are a number of reasons:

1. To get attention: Spreading gossip or saying something outrageous puts you in the limelight for 15 seconds. But you may pay a high price to pay for those 15 seconds – lost trust and hurt feelings.

2. To prove something; to win an argument: If you are too intent on winning, you’ll miss opportunities to find a solution or compromise. You may have the last word, but you won’t have constructive results.

3. To get something off your chest or to let off steam: When someone ticks you off, it may feel satisfying to give him a piece of your mind. But later you’ll realize that it was the wrong piece.

All it takes to make sure that the words you speak now won’t bite you in the you-know-where later on, is to pay attention and think. Are these words coming from you? Or from your inner brat? Is there more potential harm than benefit from saying these words?

It’s not always easy to ignore your inner brat’s urge to blurt things out. But one thing for sure – you won’t regret it.

– Copyright Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.

About The Author Pauline Wallin, Ph.D. is a psychologist in Camp Hill, PA, and author of “Taming Your Inner Brat: A Guide for Transforming Self-defeating Behavior” (Wildcat Canyon Press, 2004) Visit http://www.innerbrat.com for more information, and subscribe to her free, monthly Inner Brat Newsletter.

Is The Theme Reinforced In The Ending? – by: Nick Vernon

Creative Writing Tips –

By now you should have an idea that your theme has to reach its conclusion just as your story does. But our theme has to do more than reach its conclusion – it has to be reinforced in the end and by doing this, it will strengthen all that we have said in our story.

So if we took a theme…

‘Persist and in the end you will succeed’

And I showed my character working hard to achieve his goals, persisting, even if at times those goals seemed unreachable, then I would’ve showed that all his hard work did pay off in the end. By having him succeed, it would reinforce the theme that had been running throughout the story.

Let me further illustrate this point by giving you a more detailed example.

The theme is…

‘Persistence pays off’

The story is about a writer, who has been writing short stories for years, but has not succeeded in getting published yet.

In your story you will show his persistence with…

• How he makes time to write, even when his day is already full by his full time job and other responsibilities
• How his every thought is consumed by his writing
• Showing him sending story after story to publishers
• How he doesn’t let the fact that his family believe he’s wasting his time, distract him from his purpose

Simultaneously I will place him in win and lose situations – Losing when his stories are rejected – Winning when he receives encouraging notes from publishers.

And in those instances where he is winning, I will show gradually that resistance is starting to pay off, till I reach the end of my story where I will have one of his stories accepted for publication and thus bring my theme of ‘Persistence pays off’ to its conclusion.

By showing the reader how persistence is paying off, I would have reinforced the theme in my ending.

Is your theme reinforced in the end of your story?

About The Author Besides his passion for writing, Nick Vernon runs an online gift site where you will find gift information, articles and readers’ funny stories. Visit http://www.we-recommend.com

Chinese Pregnancy – by: Wong Yee Lee

Traditionally in China, when once people got married, they would immediately get ready for having a baby. That is why symbolic things such as dolls or lotus seeds would be put on the beds of the newly weds on their wedding day so as to bring in the meaning of having a baby as soon as possible.

When once a married woman becomes pregnant, things for the baby will start to be prepared. Prams, cot, baby clothes, etc will be readily prepared to welcome the arrival of the new born.

From now on, the health of the mother is of utmost importance. Therefore, the mother should reduce her workload, eat healthily, and employ prenatal education. Prenatal education has come into being for over 2000 years in China. It was believed that a good pregnant mother should eat only meat which was cut only in square cubes, sit only on properly built chairs, walk unswingingly, talk softly, etc. By doing so, the foetus would be able to learn the most valued virtues. Although in present days the above mentioned practice is no longer common, pregnant women in China still behave very carefully so as not to do anything which affects the foetus. Still now most people believe that the structure of the house or flat should not be changed while a woman in the house is pregnant since it will cause the foetus no good but harm.

The first month after giving birth

The first month after giving birth is very important for a mother. She needs the most rest and the best nutrition. Otherwise, her body will not be able to recover and can easily get ill. In this month, she can’t go outdoors, can’t be exposed to wind, can’t wash with cold water, can’t drink cold water, can’t read books etc. However, if a mother really has to wash herself, she should do so by using water boiled with dried ginger skin. In some places in China, a mother must not wash her hair because otherwise she will get a chronic headache.

Compared to the west, western women can leave home after a week of giving birth and can go to work after two weeks. It is unimaginable in China.

In China, after giving birth, a woman should eat plenty of fish soup and pig knuckle soup. The pig knuckle soup is boiled for a long time with ingredients such as a lot ginger, eggs, pig knuckles in plenty of sweet black vinegar. It is believed that this soup can compensate for the loss of calcium and other nutrients needed by the body. It is a tradition to give out and share such soup to friends and relatives but one can only do so twelve days after the baby is born. Chicken is also ideal for meals after giving birth. In order to help a mother to recover from giving birth, it is recommended that she should eat rice cooked with ginger daily since it can enhance all bodily circulation. Apart from the above, it is also a tradition that after the baby has been born for one lunar month, eggs dyed red should be given to friends and relatives. However, anything salty should be avoided since it will hinder the production of breast milk of a mother.

It is only after the baby has weaned then the mother can start considering controlling her body weight.

Some practices may seem quite unimaginable. However, they are still practiced in most places in China. Even in Hong Kong, women would follow the above traditions as long as family expectations are involved.

About The Author Wong Yee Lee This article was produced by Asia Dragon. Visit us at www.asiadragon.co.uk where you will find authentic oriental fashion clothing & accessories, kimonos, stylish home furnishings, furniture, beautiful ornaments, Chinese calligraphy plus much, much more! sales@asiadragon.co.uk

Ethics in Business… A Lost Art – by: Sue and Chuck DeFiore

While watching Face the Nation one Sunday earlier this year, Bob Schiffer discussed the airline industry, his mother and ethics in business. Like Bob, I think it is a sad commentary today, that we have to police businesses. Whatever happened to going into business to provide a needed service, being loyal to employees, and keeping promises.

It seems like no one today is concerned about doing good business or being ethical in the process. Our forefathers would be ashamed at what this society has come to. I know I am.

Chuck and I teach our students how to run a good business, by being ethical, and making sure that everyone is happy. We run our business using the adage, “The customer is always right”. We know, however, from looking at others in business both on and offline, that we are in the minority. For most it is all about making money. They don’t care who they have to step on, how many lies they tell, just “show them the money”. As I pointed out in my article regarding “The Almighty Buck”, this should not be your only incentive for going into business, and if it is, you won’t be in business long.

We see sites every day that you can’t find a telephone number on, an address for, they just want you to take it on faith that they are on the up and up. Years ago, a business would never even think of operating this way. Their name, address, phone number, slogan etc. was very prominent on everything they did. Unfortunately today, you can’t take people on faith anymore. It’s very sad, but it seems if you do so, most of the time, you will get burned.

Years ago, companies were known for their honesty, their integrity, and their good products. They had to be to stay in business and keep the good image they wanted to project. This gave their company a good name. As many of you know, we come from New York. Kodak, Grumman, and IBM were major companies in down and upstate NY. If you got a job with them you had a job for life, and once you retired you didn’t have to worry. Today, people are losing their medical benefits, their pensions, their life savings; due to businesses thinking of only the bottom line.

Every time you open a newspaper or watch the news today you hear about another business’ unethical business practices. They cook the books, take bonuses they don’t disclose, while they expect employees to work for less. There is something very wrong with this picture. It also says to our future entrepreneurs, that this behavior is alright, just don’t get caught.

Like Bob Schiffer, I’d much rather go back to the time when businesses dealt with us in an ethical manner and didn’t only concentrate on lining their pockets, like today. Also, like Bob, I think what we need are different teachings in our business schools. The philosophy of today’s teachers, needs to re-vamped to reflect the philosophies of old. What we need is to “throw out the new, and bring back the old”. As Bob said, if his mom was teaching today, students would get a completely different view…an old fashioned one. Kudos to Bob’s mom!

Copyright 2003 DeFiore Enterprises

About The Author Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 17 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our FREE “how to” Home Business Solutions Digest, it’s like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com coaches@homebusinesssolutions.com

Ladies: What You Should Know Before Buying A Car – by: Peggy Butler

Of the millions of folks who purchase automobiles each year, women report they have difficulty making the correct choice. This is based on the fact that the average female is not familiar with the ins and outs of car purchasing. Now all that is about to change. The following tips have proven effective in helping women make the preferred choices when it comes to buying an automobile.

1. There’s more to purchasing a car than price. Where you buy counts too. Take the time to evaluate the different dealerships. Visit a few and walk around. When a salesperson approaches you say, “I’m just looking around, and I’ll come to you when I’m ready.”

2.. Don’t let these automobile geniuses intimidate you. Walk around the service area and sit down. Stay for 30 minutes. Observe A) Is it orderly and run efficiently? B) Is the manager on the premises and working? C) Are the customers treated with respect?

3. Proceed into the service lot and look at the license plate frames. In a reputable dealership you will see frames from competing dealerships too. Don’t choose a dealership that’s out of the way. The salespeople know that they have just one chance to make a sale, and they lean hard on you. Avoid multi-franchise dealerships. Too many people run different parts of the operation, causing confusion in service.

4. Choose your salespeople; don’t let them choose you. Speak with several. Ask: A) How long have you worked at this dealership? (The longer the better) B) Where else have you worked? And for how long? C) May I get the name and number of a recent customer? (Follow up with a phone call). If there are a lot of turnovers, leave, there is a strong probability the dealership is unstable. Trap: Looking for a salesperson who’s a member of your ethnic group, because you think you will get special treatment. You won’t, and you will be letting your guard down.

5. Educate yourself. Get as much information as possible about a car before you sit down with the salesperson. Collect brochures (dealers don’t usually keep them on display, because they want you to approach the salespeople) and read consumer magazines that rate autos.

6. Don’t let salespeople woo you into trusting them with their “impressive” knowledge of cars. That’s how they try to establish authority and take control of the sale.

Know the competition. If you say that you are considering a competing brand, the salesperson will knock it, and be very convincing if you’re uninformed.

7. Be firm. If you are not firm about what you want, you could easily end up with what the salesperson wants to sell you, the most expensive model with the most extravagant option at the highest price.

Once you show serious intention of buying, the salesperson will offer you a test drive, during which he or she will talk glowingly about the car to get you to take mental ownership of it. He is seducing you. Resist. Trap: Negotiating to buy when you’re tired of shopping. Salespeople are attracted to this kind of customer like bees to honey. They know that if they promise you what you’ve been looking for, whether they have it or not, you will probably buy on the spot. Buy only when you’re in an energetic mood.

8 Avoid answering personal questions. Few salespeople ask idle questions. Seemingly relevant questions are actual attempts to find out about your lifestyle, income, driving habits, etc. Avoid answering these questions.

9. Read the sticker carefully. D.A.P. stands for Dealer Added Profit. Locator Cost means the dealer procured the car. All these charges are negotiable.

10. Take particular note of a common padding tactic: A prep fee of $100 or more. For those unfamiliar with auto buying, the cost of preparing your car for delivery is included in the manufacturer’s sticker price.

11. Don’t let yourself get “turned over.” If a salesperson feels that he’s not in control of the sale, he’ll say that he’s going on a coffee break and will “turn you over” to another salesperson. In a high-pressure operation, this could happen three or four times, until they wear you down. How to resist: Go for a walk, have a cup of coffee at a nearby diner, say that you need to think about it. Get away from the salesperson so you can think clearly.

12. When the deed is done, inspect your new car thoroughly before you leave the dealership. Make sure everything is working correctly. If you follow these suggestions, buying a car can be a joyful adventure, instead of a crazy mishap.

About The Author A freelance writer since 1989, Peggy Butler has written for various magazines and Internet publications including Impact Press, Africana.com., TimBook Tu, and The Black World Today. Moreover, Butler who lists collecting 60s memorabilia among her hobbies, writes news, features, sports and entertainment articles, as well as commentaries and humor pieces. Currently, she is a contributor for theblackmarket.com and author of the book “My Head is Bloody, But Unbowed” a candidly raw collection of 40 commentaries symbolizing African-American culture, with topics ranging from color consciousness to Black-on-Black violence. Visit her website at: www.Psbwrite.com Copyright 2004 by Peggy Butler Publisher987@wmconnect.com

Trade In Your Diet For A Lifestyle! – by: Gordon Black

Dieting is a pain. I think basically everyone would agree that having to adhere to a rigid restriction of your free-flow eating preferences puts a bit of a damper on the whole food experience. And eating should be one of the pleasures of life, right?

In my online diet and weight loss counseling service, I try to get around that big negative by blowing the doors off the conventional diet “box”. What we need to do here is make what is good for you TASTE GOOD TO YOU.

If you think about it, most of what is not good for you is basically made appetizing with loads of sauces, dips, dressing, salsa or salt and flavour enhancers. So it’s really just the sauce that tastes great. Don’t believe me? Try a burger with no mayo, no ketchup and no salt. Well maybe you still like the burger but my point is, we can make anything taste great with a little dressing, so how about doing that instead, with the “good for you” foods.

Now, one of the interesting things is that quite a lot of the “good foods” taste great with very little dressing, so we get an easy “win” there, no hardship involved. For the rest, we just get a little creative and, as an example of a really simple recipe that yields up the sweetest peppers ever, have a look at the recipe my wife has posted on my website www.gordonblack.com. Just click right there on the first page, and if you try it , e-mail me with your comments; I think it’s almost like eating candy.

So which are the “good foods”? Well, I think you can be pretty confident over in the fruit and vegetable area, there is not much there that can do damage to our weight management program; and what tastes better than a really ripe tomato, or papaya or mango?

Fish, shellfish, pasta, yes, pasta is in my plan big-time and with loads of real tomato sauce which means no cans, no jars, no production, no additives, preservatives and chemicals with names we can’t even pronounce. Instead we just go with some garlic cloves, some olive oil and some tomatoes and you can even use some salt! In my diet plan we eat a lot, but it’s WHAT we eat that counts.

Now, at the start I titled this article, Trade In Your Diet For A Lifestyle, and you’re probably thinking, where’s the lifestyle part? Well, here it is. You can eat loads of goodies as long as you make a corresponding investment in some form of exercise. It’s like a balancing act, as much as you load up one side, you have to balance it out with the other, and in this case the “other” is the regular exercise. Regular is the operative word, it must be regular even though it doesn’t have to be those exhausting “burn off the pounds” sessions I see so often. Just regular, consistent exercise with something you hopefully like doing, walking, cycling, swimming, golfing and if you really enjoy aerobics, that’s fine too.

So it’s really all about balance, and the freedom to eat as you wish, as long as you stay with the “good foods”, balanced out with that regular exercise. I think the trade-off is very liberating and certainly worth it.

About The Author Gordon Black is a world-ranked Master swimmer and Canadian national record holder. A member of the British swim team in the late ‘60s, after thirty years out of the pool, last year Gordon returned to competitive swimming in the Masters forum. He offers an online weight loss, fitness and motivational coaching service through his web site http://www.gordonblack.com where his competitive comeback is chronicled. He is currently working on a book based on his own weight management and fitness system. gordon@gordonblack.com

Are your SEO efforts going to waste? – by: Derek Croote

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a long and complicated process that can be highly rewarding if done correctly. SEO is not a waste of time, but can be if your site doesn’t appeal to visitors or function properly. Your potential customer will be turned off if your site lacks trustworthiness, an eye pleasing color scheme and easy to use navigation. Why lose visitors and possible sales because of a small design flaw or unappealing color scheme? Those visitors could have resulted in sales if those small imperfections were fixed.

As I arrive from your high position in the search engines looking for your product, I want to be able to trust the company I am buying from. People are very leery with making purchases on the Internet, and even more so from sites they don’t know a great deal about. You want to gain trust from the visitor with guarantees, a professional design and color scheme, testimonials and by any other way. If your site doesn’t boast its trustworthiness and make me feel secure, do you think I will purchase your product? No. Visitors are especially leery when they are required to give credit card information. Make them feel protected, boast about your privacy policy, encrypted servers and whatever else you have set up. Be enthusiastic about your site’s security.

I need to be able to find what I want and navigate to where I need to go FAST after I arrive at your site via the search engines. Some visitors get lost and frustrated with poor navigation and will leave your site without a second thought. Do not leave your visitor with a bad taste in their mouth! Allow them to flow through your site with ease and comfort. If your navigation is confusing your potential customer will likely leave and travel to one of the other three billion web sites on the Internet. Speed is also a factor in navigation. Visitors don’t want to sit there for twenty or thirty seconds while your page loads. Don’t make them wait. Cut down on the size of your pages and graphics.

The colors you choose for your site also impact on whether the visitor will make a purchase. A color scheme that hurts the eye will turn visitors off which will lead to lost sales. Visitors may also question how accountable your site is. You cannot have a black background with white, yellow or neon green text. It hurts the eyes. Color schemes such as that scare visitors away. With professional colors visitors will likely feel more secure and relaxed while surfing your site, which will lead to more sales.

A top position in the search engines can provide huge amounts of sales, if your site can be trusted and appeal to visitors. With a defective design and color scheme, slow loading pages or lack of trustworthiness all of the time spent performing SEO could go to waste. So get out, fix those flaws and discover more sales!

About The Author Derek Croote is a SEO, web design and usability enthusiast. He practices ethical search engine optimization and strives to make sites across the web better for visitors. Derek is the webmaster of the http://www.saratogalakesideacresassociation.org/, a small homeowners association. You can reach him at dcroote@gmail.com.

American Idol Clay Aiken Born In The Month Of The Chrysanthemum – by: Wesley Berry

American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken, born November 30, 1978, may not have taken home the winning title, but his popularity has blossomed almost as much as that of his birth-month flower, the wildly popular chrysanthemum.

The chrysanthemum, also called the mum, is a flower frequently seen in fall arrangements and flowerbeds. It is a long lasting flower of the daisy family and is available in a variety of forms, including daisy-like, decorative, pompons, or buttons. Its name is derived from the Greek prefix chrys-, which means golden, and the Greek -anthemon, which means flower. Although the chrysanthemum originally appeared only in a golden or yellow color, today it is available in shades of pink, purple, red, yellow, orange, and white, as well as yellow.

It is an ancient flower first cultivated in China during the 15th century B.C. as evident in ancient Chinese poetry and pottery. It was grown not just for its beauty, but also for the many uses of the entire plant. Uses included:

* As an herb thought to contain the power of life.

* As a headache remedy, for which its roots were boiled.

* As an addition to salads (young sprouts and petals).

* As a tea boiled from its leaves.

It is still used in China today to make chrysanthemum tea, a sweet drink that is often used to speed a person’s recovery from influenza. It is also eaten in a stir-fry of chrysanthemum greens, garlic, and chili peppers.

The chrysanthemum later appeared in Japan during the 8th century A.D. where it quickly grew in popularity to the point where the emperor adopted it as his official crest and seal. Today in Japan, the Order of the Chrysanthemum is the highest Order of Chivalry that can be bestowed and the chrysanthemum has its own day called the Festival of Happiness.

The chrysanthemum was introduced to the United States during colonial times. Today it is often used in fall flower arrangements and corsages for Homecoming dances and football games. Here the chrysanthemum holds the reigning title as the top most commercially produced flower and the number one most grown potted plant.

While the U.S. uses the chrysanthemum as a flower for happy occasions, in parts of Europe and in Japan, it is a symbol of death used almost exclusively for funerals and on graves.

If he’s lucky, Clay Aiken’s popularity of one of American Idol’s best-loved losers will continue to rise through the years just as the chrysanthemum has widened its appeal to world-wide fame.

About The Author Wesley Berry is the President of Wesley Berry Flowers, a successful multi-million dollar business that was established in 1946. He is also the Headmaster of the Professional Florists’ Institute, a floral design school located in Michigan. Visit Wesley Berry Flowers on the web at http://www.800wesleys.com.

SEO for CEOs – Search Engine Optimization Unmasked for CEOs – by: Glenn Murray

If you’re like most other CEOs, the term “search engine optimization” will mean very little. Either that or it means expense! But it doesn’t have to be that way… If you feel like you’re standing in a dark room handing money to strangers to get you in the search engines, then this article is for you.

This is an article written by a business owner for other business owners and CEOs. It explains Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) in layperson’s terms. It won’t make you an expert, but it will give you some insight into what you’re spending your money on, what you should be spending your money on, and just as importantly, what you shouldn’t.

But before launching straight into an explanation of SEO, let’s talk a bit about search engines. Approximately 75%-80% of website traffic comes through search engines. What’s more, research shows that most people don’t look beyond the first 2 pages of search results. This means if your website doesn’t rank in the first 2 pages of the major search engines, it’s only receiving 20% of its rightful traffic… and revenue. (And remember, being ranked number 1 when you search for your company name or web address doesn’t count. You need to rank highly for the words your customers use at search engines.)

The biggest concern for search engine companies like Google, Yahoo, etc., is finding content that will bring them more traffic (and thus more advertising revenue). They do this by using complex algorithms to determine whether a site is useful and should be included in their search results.

This is where SEO comes in.

SEO is the art of ranking in the search engines. Nothing more, nothing less.

SEO means creating your site such that the search engines consider it useful. The two main weapons in your arsenal are:

• Keywords
• Links to your site

KEYWORDS

Figure out what words your customers are looking for at search engines, and use those words at your site. By frequently using keywords that are important to your customers, you tell the search engines what you do. These keywords are used in your copy and in the code behind the page. Generally speaking, the more you use the keywords, the more relevant you are to searches in that field.

Keywords in Your Copy

The use of keywords in your copy is easy to understand. But it’s not easy to do. You can’t just pepper your site with a meaningless array of words. The trick is using the most important keywords a lot without compromising the readability of your copy. It’s a balance between writing for the search engines and writing for your reader.

TIP: If you find this too time consuming, a website copywriter can take care of it for you. And if you know your keywords already, it should cost you no more than normal web copy.

Keywords in Your HTML Code

The use of keywords in your HTML code is harder to understand, but it’s easier to do. There are four main places these keywords are used:

• Keywords
• Description
• Alt
• Title

TIP: When you hear people talking about meta tags, this is what they’re talking about. To see how meta tags are used in practice, go to Google and pretend you’re a customer. Search for something your customers would search for. e.g. If you’re in car audio, search for “car audio”. Click on the first couple of results to bring up their website. Right-click on the home page, and select “View Source”. You’ll see a whole lot of code. You can ignore most of it. What you’re looking for are the following…

meta name=”KEYWORDS” CONTENT=”keyword 1,keyword 2,keyword 3″

meta name=”DESCRIPTION” CONTENT=”Meaningful description of page using the main keywords”

img src=”filename.gif” alt=”Meaningful description of picture using the main keywords”

The title of the page using the main keywords

Take a look at the way the creators of the site have used keywords in these areas, and follow their lead. You already know they’re ranked highly, so chances are they’ve done a good job. Alternatively, take a look at my site, http://www.divinewrite.com to see how I’ve done mine.

LINKS TO YOUR SITE

Now that you know how to tell the search engines what you do, let’s talk about how to convince them you’re important.

Links to your site (or “inbound links”) are the most important factor in ranking. The more links you have to your site from other sites, the better your ranking (related sites generate better rankings).

TIP: Think of the Internet as a big election. All the websites in the world are candidates, and all the links to those websites are votes. The more votes (links) a candidate (website) has, the more important it is, and the higher its ranking.

There are many possible ways to generate links. Some are dubious (like auto-generation software). Others are legitimate, but offer limited results (like asking customers and suppliers to list you on their sites, and adding your site to various business directories). You can experiment with these methods, but I’ve always found the best way to generate inbound links is to write helpful articles and let publishers of newsletters and e-zines use them for free – on the proviso that they link back to your site.

People who publish e-Zines and newsletters are always hungry for quality content. And there are websites out there dedicated to giving them just that. If you submit a well written, relevant, helpful article to one of those sites, you can have thousands of newsletter publishers ready to snap it up. Then you just sit back and watch the links multiply!

TIP: This method is beneficial in other ways too. Readers of your article will see that you know what you’re talking about, and because you’re published, they’ll see you as an authority.

It’s impossible to say how much time you’ll need to spend generating links. You just have to keep at it until you have achieved a high ranking. Even then, you’ll still need to dedicate some ongoing time to the task, otherwise your ranking will drop.

Summary

So to cut a long story short, it comes down to this. If you have a lot of the right keyword phrases, used in real sentences, distributed realistically throughout your site, and a lot of links from other relevant sites, you stand a good chance of being ranked highly.

That’s what you’re paying your providers for. And that’s what SEO is all about.

About The Author Glenn Murray is an advertising copywriter and heads copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com. Visit http://www.divinewrite.com for further details or more FREE articles.